Earth and Hell
by Raine Ito
Summary: The sequel to "Brothers in Arms." A disturbing and very angsty tale about the destruction of earth, and the tormented souls of three people trying to save it. NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, very painful and angsty. You have been warned. (Enjoy! :-p)
1. Reality Sucks

(I'll warn you just one more time, then I'll leave you alone. ^^

"Brothers in Arms" and "Earth and Hell" and possibly the best pieces I have ever done. But they aren't easy to take.

Still interested? Read on!)

Dr. Niles Yale stood with his back to his window, gazing down in mild shock at his most recent experiment. He wondered suddenly if he should call someone; tell them what he had just discovered, just done. _Sometimes, victory is best experienced alone, _he thought in the silence that followed the girl's awakening. _But it's worked…it's really worked…_He continued to gaze down at her, as she brushed her short blonde hair out of her eyes, and blinked in the light from the lamp that was shining down on her. Quickly, he averted its direction, not taking his eyes off her once. "So, my dear Elena, you've finally come round," he purred.

Elena slowly sat up on the table where she was lying. "What…where…how?" Looking up at Dr. Yale, she cringed, shrinking back from him. "Who…are you?" Yale was disappointed. This was a Turk? One of the elite fighting force of long gone Shinra? This…frightened child? _Maybe it's a side effect of dying, _he thought, mildly amused. _One loses, hopefully only briefly, their sense of courage. _He caught her as she almost fell off the other end of the table, steadying her with the other hand. "My dear, you must lie down, you've had an…interesting experience, and it can't be very good for your system." She stared uncomprehendingly at him. 

Again, he was disappointed. _Perhaps this is not such a victory as I thought. If this girl and the other two have lost their memories or senses, they won't be of any use to me at all. I must try to preserve whatever is left of this one, and be more careful with the other two. I can't have this all go to waste, and I only have one opportunity. Who knows if I'll ever be able to do this again…and what if I can?_ Returning to the present, he focused again on Elena, and noticed that she seemed to be becoming more aware of her surroundings. Her eyes narrowed, and she looked up at him again, not the frightened girl anymore, but suspicious, prepared Elena. _Good…_

_ _

__"Why…am I here?" She stood slowly, cringing at the pain in her chest. Looking down, she saw the wound where she'd been hit only a few days ago, and gasped, backing into a wall, and sinking to the floor. Shaking her head violently, she whispered, "I'm dead…I'm dead…I'm not supposed to be here…what is this?" Lunging to her feet, she grabbed unsteadily at Dr. Yale's arm. "What have you done to me??" She demanded. "I'm DEAD." Smiling, he shook her off, and gestured to a chair nearby. Still with a mildly hysterical look on her face, she felt her way the seat. "I'm afraid you don't understand. You aren't dead. You're quite alive. I've…revived you, my dear. You're alive again. You're very lucky I-."

"No…" she cut him off, feeling her chest where the wound was still healing. It shocked her that it was healing. It shouldn't be healing, because it was a death wound. She was dead. It wasn't right. "Reno…Rude…" She buried her face in her hands. "What have you done to me??" Dr. Yale was slightly puzzled. "Why, I've given youback your life, I've-!" "NO!" Elena stood up. "I don't HAVE a life, not anymore! Everyone I ever cared about is dead! I want to be dead! I'M NOT ALIVE! I'M-ugh." She tripped, and went sprawling to the ground. Yale shook his head, and extended a hand to help her up. She ignored him, pulled herself up by herself…and then sagged against the wall.

"Unh…I'm not…alive…" Yale recognized her weariness kicking in, and nodded. "No, but you will be in the morning. Sleep now…"

****************

When Elena awoke the next morning, she could sense noises in the room around her. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked around, taking in anew the scene she had barely come to terms with the day before, and quickly shutting her eyes again, not wanting to see it, to take in the fact that she was here. Standing up and looking around, she noticed that the noises were not coming from Yale. In fact, she couldn't see him anywhere. A sudden thought caused her to put a hand to her sheath. Sure enough, there was her second gun, safe and sound as it had been when she'd been cut down, without enough time to draw it. Taking a deep breath and looking around she held the gun before her, aimed at her heart, and closed her eyes, preparing…

"Ah, Elena, you're awake, good." The voice behind her startled her into dropping the gun, and she whirled around, glaring. Yale walked in through the doorway, and picked the gun up off the floor. "Can't have you destroying all my hard work, now can I?" He said cheerfully, placing it in his own belt, and turning again towards the doorway. "Come, girl, there's someone I want you to meet." "Why," she asked, building volume in her voice, "won't you let me DIE?" He turned back to her. "Because…well, all in time. I told you to come. You'll like this, trust me." He waved a hand at the door, and called out, "Come in!"

A tall man with extremely tousled red hair walked uncertainly into the room. He stood in the doorway, and cringed as another man, wearing dark sunglasses, who had darker skin from his own, and no hair, bumped him into from behind. Both stared at Elena, breathing hard, not speaking. "Reno…" she whispered. "Rude…"

Then she was running, and she ran towards them, throwing herself at them and they were all embracing, and there were tears in her eyes, and she saw them in Reno's, and trickling down from Rude's characteristic glasses. No one said anything for a long time. Then Elena slowly turned to Yale, saying, "I…I thought they…were dead…why?" She bit her lip, and asked, "Why didn't you tell me they were alive?" "Because, dear girl," he said, smiling thinly, and gesturing at a group of chairs around him, "That would have ruined all of this." "All of what?" Asked Reno, who still hadn't let go of Elena. "Well now, shall we talk about that? Come, come, and sit down. I have quite a lot to tell you."

Yale led the shaky and confused threesome out of the room and down the hall, towards a closed door marked "NO ENTRANCE WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION." He unlocked it with a key he seemed to pull out of nowhere, and opened it, gesturing for them to enter. Reno led in after a brief hesitation, but they did not take the chairs he pulled up for them. Shrugging, he sat down in one himself, and leaned over towards them, keeping his cool and gracious smile on his face. "Take a look around this room. What do you see?" They looked. It was full of different kinds of machinery, none of which they could recognize or understand. In one corner, there was a large tank filled with greenish liquid.

From the blank expressions on their faces, Yale decided to take the initiative. "This is the room in which I toiled for days and days, to produce the end result that is standing before me…you! You all must realize what an incredible accomplishment this is! The dead can be brought back to life! And you! You have a chance for another life!" His face was becoming more animated as he spoke, and his eyes glittered as he thought toward his further goal. _This really could happen in my lifetime, _he thought, as he continued.

Elena finally spoke up. "Then…why did you do it? How did you do it? I'm so confused…but…" "Let me explain," he said, cutting her off. "While I was working, I discovered a substance that could be created by mixing particles of the very lifestream with…other elements that I must keep secret. When administered in regulated doses, consciousness and life can slowly be returned to a member of the deceased! When I discovered it, I immediately tried it out on you. And you see…" he looked at them, not finding it necessary to finish the sentence.

"But…then, you can bring us all back!" Said Reno, suddenly becoming excited, and squeezing Elena's hand. "All those who died saving earth! All of our friends!" He stopped when he saw Yale shaking his head. "I'm so sorry," he said, sighing. "But you three were the only bodies recovered. The aliens took all the others away. There's no one else left to save. I really am sorry. It would be wonderful to get back our loved ones." Shocked yet again, Elena fell back into a chair. "Why…us? Why only us?" He smiled. "Because I went in to the battlefield and salvaged you before they could. You see, I need you to help me with a little something."

Now was the hard part, he knew. He'd have to phrase it carefully, as this would be a whole new and sudden concept after all the shocking news they'd just heard. Now was the moment of truth. "You see," he repeated, "I think that the people who do remain, the people who weren't fighting, they need someone to lead them, someone…to send them in the right direction. I think that…well, that if you helped me, we could be the leaders that sent humans back into the battle of life. Of course, it may take a bit of forcefulness here and there, but you're quite used to that, I know. We could set everything right, conquer a new planet in my-ah, our name. So…what do you say? Will you help me? Of course, you don't need to decide now…"

Reno stared at him for a few minutes. The true implications of the speech had not been lost on him. Yale wanted power over the remaining humans, and he wanted them to enforce it. Shaking his head, he knew he'd had enough power by fear and such. That had died with Shinra. The glare on Elena's face and Rude's impassive silence made it quite clear. They weren't interested. Yale sighed, shook his head, and then smiled sadly. "No? Well, you really can't be expected to decide now. I'll give you some time, of course, and you can come and tell me if you change your mind. Until then, why don't you go have a look around our shelter? Although, I don't suggest going outside…reality isn't pretty anymore." With that, he left them to find their own way.

As Yale left the room, Elena stood up, and walked silently over to her companions. No one spoke for a long time, until Reno let out a long sigh. "We…have been given an opportunity, haven't we? We'd better go see what we have to deal with." In a closely huddled group, all three moved out of the room, and down the passageway from which they'd originally come. At the end was a door, unmarked, which Rude cautiously opened. On the other side was what looked like a rather expensive hotel hallway, lined with doors, which were all marked with numbers. Elena blinked in confusion as she looked around, and then saw a door open on the left. A brunette of medium height walked out, straightening her round-rimmed glasses on her nose, and pulling on a white lab coat. "…Shera?" she asked quietly.

Shera turned around, and dropped the mug of coffee she'd been carrying, spilling it all over the floor. "Oh my god," she whispered, backing in the other direction. She stumbled and tripped over a chair, and fell on her back. Elena rushed over to help her up. "You-you're dead…" murmured Shera. Elena helped her up. "I know this is a little hard to take," she replied, "but think how we must feel."

****************

An hour or so later, in Shera's room, Elena finished explaining their untimely appearance. Shera leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "Then…people can be brought back to life…" She swallowed. "If only I'd had time to save…" she trailed off, and a tear trickled down her cheek. "But then, he'd always wanted to die fighting." Elena gripped her hand. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry." Shera wiped the tear away, and leaned forward, sighing. "Well, I can't say there's anything you've come back to. It's all gone, really. Everyone…" she stopped, then regained her composure slightly. "Most people were killed, either in the battle, or the onslaught afterwards. There isn't much left, I'm afraid. All that's there is us, and this old hotel, aside from a few broken buildings here and there. Then, afterwards, they just got up…and…left. All that slaughter for nothing…"

_ _

__


	2. Deal With It

(Chapter two…*sniff sob tissue*)

She trailed off and buried her face in her hands. "Then…everyone's…really gone?" Asked Reno slowly, disbelievingly. She nodded. Elena came over and put an arm around her, and they all let her cry for a little way, feeling her tears as the embodiment of the grief they themselves could not seem to show. Soon she straightened, and cleared her throat. "There's only one person who fought and survived, besides you three. Everyone else was hidden in the observatory. But poor Reeve, he's-"Reeve??" Asked Reno, jumping up. "He's alive?" Shera nodded sadly. "Alive, yes, but I'm afraid he might have been better off dead. He doesn't see, doesn't speak, and just stares out the window all day. Poor Deanna…maybe he'd recognize you! You ought to go see him, really…"

A few minutes later, Shera knocked on a door marked 427. It opened a crack, and a dark haired woman with large circles under her eyes watched them for a moment, then, after Shera's hurried explanation, let them in. She didn't even blink an eye at the Turks' revival. Elena supposed the woman probably felt she couldn't be surprised by anything anymore. They walked into the room, and found that it was completely dark, except for the light coming in from a single open window on the far side. Silhouetted in the window was a bedraggled form, which stared out of it, not turning or even noticing as they came in. Reno stepped closer, and identified the poor creature as Reeve, cut and bruised all over. 

The dark haired woman walked towards him, put a hand on his shoulder, and whispered something in his ear before gently steering him around to face Reno, Elena, and Rude. He stood there for a moment, looking at them, and Elena knew he couldn't see them. He was looking right through them, and Elena knew he was probably seeing the battles over and over in his mind, from the tortured look in his eyes. The poor man was lost to them forever, lost to an alien species far far away. They'd not managed to get his body…but they'd undoubtedly got his mind.

After a while, Reeve turned back to the window, and the dark haired woman hung her head, shaking it in sadness, before sitting down at a nearby table to be comforted by Shera. The Turks walked out of the room, leaving them alone for a while. None of them said anything as they walked down the hall, until they realized they'd ended up right outside the front entrance, that would lead them out into the tortured world beyond. The sight of their old comrade had left them shaky and saddened, but somehow they were now prepared to see what was left of their planet. Without anyone speaking, Reno knew that if he turned back, Elena and Rude would go with him. This was something they had to face together. Still not speaking, he stepped forward, and pushed into the revolving door. 

What met their eyes as they stepped outside was wasteland. Nothing but barren, broken wasteland. There were no trees, no water, no buildings, no signs of human habitation within their line of vision. Elena closed her eyes to blot it out, but Rude put a hand on her shoulder. "…No," he said, and she opened her eyes, knowing she had to see it, had to come to grips with the destruction. Then she nodded, and stepped forward, walking onward into the distance, to try and find something, anything that was left of this place. Any building, street, forest, tree, puddle of water, _anything _to prove that there had once been people living here, that this place had once been teeming with life.

They walked for a long time without seeing anything. Then, just as they were about to give up hope entirely and head back, Elena called out excitedly. "Look, there's something over there, really!" Reno and Rude followed her as she ran to look, and then stopped dead, staring, and hanging her head. "Look," she whispered. The large iron observatory stood, half melted away on the top, with a huge sword stuck into the ground right next to it. Elena ran forward and picked it up, hanging her head as she recognized it. "He really wasn't such a bad guy," she murmured, passing Cloud Strife's weapon to Reno. "We were enemies with the wrong people for so long. So many people we didn't get a chance to get to know, already dead-!" 

Elena had looked up to where the sword had been, and to her immense shock, a body was lying there, a body that had been hidden by the sword. It was perfectly intact except for a large hole in one arm. They all stared at it, perfectly preserved by the sand and dust around them, until Rude walked forward and propped up the head, resting it against him, and looking into the face. "…Tifa," he said sadly, as he crossed both her arms over her chest. Elena rushed over to him, and grasped his hand. "Rude," she said excitedly, "maybe Yale can…well, cure her! Maybe it's not too late, so don't give up! Come on, let's take her with us, there's still a chance for her, please!" Rude looked up at Elena and Reno, then picked up Tifa carefully, and headed off with the others towards the city that they knew should be nearby.

When they reached it, it was a horrible disappointment. There was almost nothing there, except a few broken walls. Reno recognized a smashed window, looking in on the only partially intact building in the whole place. He alerted the others as they walked into the shell of the "Dark Flower Restaurant," and sat down, exhausted from walking and dealing with what had happened all around them. Reno found a bottle of wine in the corner that seemed to be intact, as well as a few paper cups that must have been used in the kitchen. He poured each of them some of it as they sat on the dusty ground where the floor used to have been, and stared out the hole where the ceiling should be. "Well," Reno said, trying to smile, "We always said we'd come back…"

Then he dropped his head and sobbed unashamedly. 


End file.
